Nothing doing for the Bruins

December 20, 2009|Fluto Shinzawa, Globe Staff

TORONTO - For virtually his entire rookie season, the Bruins’ Tuukka Rask has been a exercise in fluidity.

The 22-year-old (9-2-2, 1.97 goals-against average, .932 save percentage entering last night) has been the NHL’s finest puck-stopping freshman. Rask has performed with purpose, standing tall to make the saves that he should and using his speed and athleticism to turn aside the shots other goalies might not stop. But for a brief moment last night at the Air Canada Centre, Rask committed a rare mental and mechanical flub - one that turned into the only goal the Maple Leafs needed.

From close to the left wall in the second period, Tomas Kaberle floated a shot aimed for Rask’s blocker. But the goalie decided to flash out his glove to stop the puck.

The puck clanged off the edge of Rask’s glove, caromed off his stick, and found its way into the net at 2:24, giving Toronto a 1-0 lead.

“Just a blackout, I guess,’’ Rask (29 saves) said after the 2-0 loss before 19,101 fans.

Rask, the former Leaf (Toronto’s first-round pick in 2005), had owned his previous team. Two seasons ago, in a spot start at the Air Canada Centre, Rask earned his first NHL win in a 4-2 decision. Earlier this month, Rask was between the pipes at TD Garden for a pair of wins over the Leafs.

So it was a surprise last night when the Leafs finally got the best of Rask, while fellow NHL rookie Jonas Gustavsson (25 saves) earned his first career shutout.

At 9:43 of the third period, Rask allowed a second goal. Jason Blake took a pass from Niklas Hagman and elevated a shot over Rask’s glove, just under the crossbar.

The loss, however, could hardly be pegged on Rask.

Gustavsson had good looks on most of the shots that came his way. There were few second chances Gustavsson had to clean up. He didn’t have to battle much traffic in his crease.

“You don’t want to take away credit from a guy who got a shutout,’’ said Bruins coach Claude Julien. “But I don’t think we tested him as much as we should have. That’s our fault.’’

Last night, defense should have been the problem. Dennis Wideman (undisclosed injury) and Mark Stuart (broken sternum) were out for the second straight game. They were joined on the shelf by Derek Morris (undisclosed injury). Adam McQuaid played his first NHL game. Andy Wozniewski dressed for only the second time this season.

But for the third straight game against the Leafs, the Bruins, led by Zdeno Chara (26:45 of ice time), kept Phil Kessel off the scoresheet. In 21:46 of ice time, Kessel landed four shots, had four more blocked, and missed the net with two attempts. Chara had help from Andrew Ference (team-leading 28:22 workload) and Johnny Boychuk (career-high 24:14), who had been a healthy scratch for most of the season.